Why are you here? Why am I here?
/
Why am I here? Is there more to life than this? Am I good enough?
The questions of life are big. Perhaps you have questions. Or perhaps you know the answers to these questions, but you have friends who do not. Alpha is for you. And them. And for countless others.
Alpha is for those who are questioning, those who are indifferent, and those who may even be antagonistic to come and hear life-changing Biblical truths without judgment or condemnation.
Alpha is an eleven week series of sessions exploring the Christian faith. Each talk looks at a different question around faith and is designed to create conversation. A typical night at Alpha will include dinner, a talk, and conversation around the table afterward. It's a safe space for real exploration.
We'll begin Wednesday, September 6th at The Bridge, and we'll meet from 6:00 until 8:00 PM. Dinner will be provided for all.
We'd love for you to join us. If you want to attend, please message us by clicking on the button below with your name(s), and we'll provide more information.
If you're interested in serving, please click the button as well.
To learn more, please visit https://alphausa.org/about/.
Hope to see you on September 6th!
The Long Game
/Life often doesn’t go as planned. Or at least, life often doesn’t go as we planned.
At times we play the short game. We focus on the things of, for, and by this world. Sometimes we believe that if we fit certain molds, or if we achieve x, y, and z, or if we experience certain rites of passage, we will feel complete. We’ll be satisfied. And we chase after these things, don’t we?
A degree, a spouse, children, a higher paying job, prestige, a bigger house…or even a fruitful ministry that will make me appear more holy…these idols creep into our hearts in the most insidious of ways. Most are actually good things when held with open hands. But a good thing can become a bad thing when it becomes a substitute for the best thing...especially when held with clenched fists.
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” – James 4:13-17
God plays the long game. And He sees and knows us and our stories and our reasons for existing better than we know ourselves. He has redeemed us not for our own glory, but for His glory…and He created us in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do! (Ephesians 2:10)
His plans are infinitely better than our plans. There is solace in this, too, when things don't happen as we planned...not as a result of sin, but just as a result of living in a fallen world. When loved ones pass on, or betrayal happens, or everything seems to fall apart, we have hope. "Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy." (Tim Keller)
The long game, in which we spend eternity with God and death is no more, propels us toward joy and hope.
Father, Eternity is beyond our comprehension, but please give us faith and patience to play the long game, and to trust that Your will is good. When good things become a substitute for the good works you have created us to do, and when good things become a substitute for the delight we find in You, please reveal these idols to us and rearrange our priorities, as temporarily painful as that might be. We trust You and desire to build Your kingdom, rather than our own. Please permeate our hearts with the phrase, "If the Lord wills." In Jesus’ name, Amen.
See you Sunday!
Who are you to judge?
/Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
James 4:11-12
Have you ever spoken evil of or judged a fellow believer? Usually the judging comes first, right? Then out spill words that never should've been spoken in the first place.
The Greek word translated "speak evil" is katalaleo, and it packs quite a punch. It means speaking against someone, to talk them down, to speak ill of them, to disdain someone, or to run them down verbally. The intent is to belittle, to mock, to hurt, to rejoice in someone else's undoing. Ouch.
James 4:11-12 (along with the rest of Scripture) directly addresses what we saw in Charlottesville last weekend. God abhors hate and speaking evil of our brothers and sisters (regardless of race). Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." He created and redeemed us to speak life, not death!
At the epicenter of what comes out of my mouth, though, is my heart. (Proverbs 4:23) My words are just an overflow of what is within. If we go one step further, Matthew 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
The question then, is where is my treasure? What do I value? How do I mark my own worth?
When Jesus is our treasure, our hearts aren't racked with sinful judgment, because we know the depth of our own need for grace and forgiveness. When Jesus is our treasure, we speak life. When Jesus is our treasure, we bring joy and encouragement to those around us, because our words are just an overflow of what is within. The Holy Spirit gives life! (Romans 8:2)
Father, we need You. Our hearts are prone to rush to sinful judgment and speak ill of our brothers and sisters when we raise other idols above Jesus. We grieve that we make so many things our treasure - our standing in society, our pride, our work, our relationships, our sense of entitlement. Please forgive us. Please show us what we treasure above Jesus, and turn our hearts to You. May we speak life - because in You we have life - in our homes, workplaces, and our city. May we gossip the Gospel, and nothing else. In Jesus' Name, Amen
Miry Mud & Muck
/“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” – James 4:8
Do you ever get stuck in sin? Psalm 40 describes a slimy pit, with mud and muck and mire…a pit that is inescapable on our own…a pit that we just slip and slide and fall around in until we wear ourselves out, filthy and exhausted from our efforts.
Our broken, human, sin-filled hearts gravitate toward death apart from Jesus. But we weren’t made for death; we were made for life! As followers of Christ, we have been redeemed, washed, sanctified, and pulled out of the miry muck and mud. And yet, in our humanity, our hearts wander. They do. It is a part of our struggle this side of heaven. But we aren’t left in our wandering. We aren’t left in our muddy, self-made pit to hopelessly exhaust ourselves. Like the father of the prodigal son, our Father stands ready to forgive, embrace, and love us back to life.
Our Father knew we would still wander and get muddy at times, so He graciously gave us an escape plan in James 4:
- Submit to God.
- Resist the devil, and he flees.
- Draw near to God, and He draws near to you.
- Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.
- Weep over your sin, and humble yourself.
- Then He exalts you. He lifts up your head. He embraces you.
It’s simple, but it isn’t easy. Jesus trudged through the mud, remained clean, died on a cross, and rose again, so we wouldn't have to remain stuck in the mud. Jesus does the heavy lifting, the rescuing, and the exalting, but we do have to submit, draw near, and be humble. And we are often highly self-sufficient, idolatrous, and prideful, so our feet get stuck in the mud!
C.S. Lewis wrote, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
We weren't made for the mud, friends. Let's not make mud pies while paradise awaits. We were made for more.
See you Sunday!
See, here is water!
/...And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. – Acts 8:36-39 (ESV)
This is an incredible story.
Here’s the gist: Philip, a disciple of Jesus, was preaching in Samaria. People were believing in Jesus left and right and there was joy abounding in the city. Then an angel came to Philip and told him to head south on a desert road. Philip didn’t ask why; he just obeyed. He trusted that God’s plans were better than his plans, even though he couldn’t see what the future held.
On this road, Philip came across an Ethiopian eunuch (a trusted servant of the royal household), and the Spirit of the Lord told him to head over to his chariot. Once again, Philip obeyed and as he approached, he began to overhear the eunuch reading from the Book of Isaiah. Nothing like a divine opportunity, right?
Philip went on to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this eunuch, and he believed.
Like many other accounts of new believers in Scripture, the next response from the eunuch was, “What prevents me from being baptized?”
This Sunday at The Bridge, we have the privilege and joy of celebrating some of our brothers and sisters in Christ who have decided, like the eunuch and like Jesus Himself, to be baptized.
Our prayer is that those who are baptized will “go on their way rejoicing,” and that we, as the body of Christ, will rejoice with them!
As we reflect on this story, do you identify with Philip or with the eunuch?
Like Philip, is there a direction you’re supposed to walk in, or a chariot you’re supposed to approach? Are you willing to obey, even if you don’t know the specific outcome? Tradition says that God used the eunuch to take the Gospel to Ethiopia, an unreached nation at the time. God used Philip’s obedience to head south into the desert to reach an entire nation. How is He asking you to obey today?
Or are you the eunuch? Have you believed in Jesus as your Savior and Redeemer and turned from sin? If so, like the eunuch, you might ask, “What prevents me from being baptized?”
Father, thank you for being a God who sends us on our way rejoicing. May we follow in the steps of Philip and this Ethiopian eunuch and have hearts that are obedient to you. May we truly believe that your plans are better than our best laid plans. May we be people who speak and live the Gospel in a way that leads others to you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
If you have questions about baptism, please reply to this email. We’d love to listen to your story and explain why and how we baptize at The Bridge.
See you Sunday!
Are you a peacemaker?
/Are you known as a peacemaker?
In James 3:18, just after he urges us to rely on wisdom from above (3:13-17) and just before he digs into the causes of quarreling (4:1-3), he promises that "a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." Why do you suppose he focuses on peace right in the middleof this passage?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) In Romans, Paul writes, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Peace is listed right after love and joy as fruit of the Spirit. All of Scripture calls us, as followers of Jesus Christ, to pursue peace.
This seems easier said than done, right? True peacemaking is not for the faint of heart. Nonetheless, “peacemaker” ought to be synonymous with “Christian.”
So how? How do we pursue peace with our spouses, our children, our siblings, our parents, our friends, our coworkers…and even our enemies?
“A peacemaker is someone who experiences the peace of God because he is at peace with the God of peace through the Prince of Peace, who, indeed, is our peace, and who therefore seeks to live at peace with all others and proclaims the gospel of peace so that others might have joy and peace in believing.” – Desiring God
We become peacemakers because we have experienced the peace of God in our own hearts and lives. Just as we love because we are loved, we extend peace, pursue peace, and make peace, because He is our peace.
Father, thank you for Jesus, who brought perfect peace and modeled perfect peace for us while He walked the earth. May we be more like Him. Please give us Your wisdom, and rid us of selfish ambition and jealousy that is not of You. As we grow in Your wisdom and in understanding Your peace, may we bring peace to our families, our friends, our workplaces, our city, and our world. May we be known as peacemakers, for You are the great Peacemaker. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Where and with whom is God inviting you to pursue peace this week? A friend? A sister? A brother? A parent? A child? A spouse? Let's not delay. Let’s be peacemakers.
See you Sunday!
Why did I say that?
/“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” – Romans 7:15
“With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.” – James 3:9
Have you ever struggled to say the right thing? Or have you ever regretted saying something you shouldn’t have said?
You are in good company…with the rest of the human race.
In Chapter 3, James devotes a lot of attention to the power (and potential destructiveness) of the tongue. He compares it to the rudder of a ship. It has the power to shift our direction! Just as a forest fire begins with the tiniest of sparks, the tongue, be it small, is like fire. Sometimes we need to pause to take an inventory of how we’re using this powerful thing we’ve been given.
Am I setting relationships or friendships on fire? Am I using my words to demean people who were created in the image of our God? Am I saying and doing the very things I don’t want to say and do? Are blessing and cursing coming out of the same mouth?
The bad news is this: no matter how hard we try to tame the tongue and say the right thing, if we are trying apart from the power of the Spirit, we will fail. Over and over again. We’ll set relationship after relationship on fire. We’ll steer our ships aground.
But the good – no, the great and wonderful and beautiful – news is this: as followers of Jesus, we are no longer enslaved by our sinful tendencies to destroy people with our words. We are humans, and we will say things we regret this side of heaven. Grace covers this, but our speech should be markedly different than that of the world!
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” – Galatians 5
Want to tame the tongue? Be filled with the Spirit. Know who you are. If you have placed your faith in Jesus, you are a son or daughter of the King, and He has redeemed your heart and everything that flows from it, including the words that flow from your mouth.
Father, may we be people whose hearts and the words that flow from them praise you. May we be marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as we walk by the power of your Spirit. Thank you, Father, that we are no longer enslaved to our brokenness and sin, but that we have been adopted into your family. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
See you Sunday!
Faith Without Works is Dead
/"...Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." - James 2:17
This is a pretty common phrase in the church today, isn't it? Often it's used to clarify the importance of works in the life of a Christian…in other words, what are you DOING that proves you’re a follower of Christ? Where’s the evidence of faith?
But this kind of thinking may miss the point of James 2. Let’s flip back to Ephesians for a moment.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” - Ephesians 2:8-10
Yes, faith without works is dead. But works without faith is equally as dead. And both are useless. All of Scripture points to this.
Dallas Willard often said, “Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning.”
The moment I work to appear holy and righteous, to please others, or to add something of my own to the cross – to make myself worthy of the cross, I miss the point. I fail to understand the totality of Jesus' death and resurrection. I inadvertently cheapen grace!
I cannot add to the cross. It is finished; my debt has been paid. But I am HIS workmanship. You are are HIS workmanship. And according to Ephesians 2:10, we were created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has already prepared for us to walk in!
Father, We may not be able to add anything of value to what Jesus has done, but goodness, we can and should respond to what He has done. To what You have done. May we have faith that works – not in an effort to earn anything – but out of a desire to serve You, our Creator God who has written stories for us far greater than we can write for ourselves. You graciously work out Your goodness on earth through us. May we be people who understand who we are, whose we are, and why we were created, and may our faith compel us to walk in good works which You have prepared. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Today, there is someone in your path who has been prepared for you to love in Jesus’ name. There is a work for which you were specifically created. Will you accept your mission for today? Go with confidence and grace, knowing that our God has gone before you in preparation.
See you Sunday!
Let Brotherly Love Continue
/This time last year, I was in Thessaloniki, Greece, serving alongside a local church as they welcomed refugees from Iraq and Syria. Most Greeks in Thessaloniki wanted nothing to do with these people. They were unfamiliar, foreign, filthy, needy, and viewed as a burden.
But the church where we worshipped took a distinctly different approach from the city they called home.
These followers of Jesus built relationships with the refugees. They welcomed them into their homes for meals and into the church building for showers and rest. They showed them love.
“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4)
Because our Greek brothers and sisters took Scripture like James 2 seriously, scores of refugees came to know the God of the Bible. They experienced the love of Jesus, and they couldn’t get enough of it.
Today, many of the refugees who walked through the doors of that church are now extending selfless love and care to their Muslim countrymen in the name of Jesus, often risking violent responses in order to do so.
These are the subversive, life-giving acts of love to which we’re called. This is the upside down way in which God redeems the world.
We may not be in Greece, but there are certainly people among us who feel like outcasts. Who are the “others” in your life? Who are the unfamiliar, the foreign, the filthy, the needy? Who are you viewing as burdensome? What would it look like for you to embrace them with the love of Jesus this week? Not to just tolerate them…but to love them?
Or perhaps you feel like the other. You feel like an outcast. A burden. Friend, YOU are loved so deeply that God sacrificed His Son to redeem you. You have a Father who is there, ready to embrace you in your loneliness. Just call out His name. If you have more questions, please reply to this email, and we'll talk.
Father, may we be people who love others as ourselves. May we be known for the radical nature of our love, rather than for our exclusion. May we love the least of these in a way that draws them to Jesus, which is only possible through Your Spirit and Your grace. Amen.
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:1-2)
Hope to see you tomorrow night at our monthly prayer gathering!
Erika
Slow to Anger
/Know this, my beloved brothers; let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. - James 1:19-20
From cable news networks to Facebook to our personal relationships, we often practice this in reverse, don’t we?
Our culture says: be quick to anger, quick to speak, and painfully slow to hear.
The thing is, our hearts are naturally – sinfully – interested in self-preservation. When we’re chasing dreams and idols apart from our Creator’s plans for us, and especially when our worth and identity is tied up in these dreams and idols, anything that interferes with them becomes a personal attack. This need to self-preserve often causes us to respond quickly in anger.
And while James says that our anger does not produce the righteousness of God (and we read elsewhere that our anger gives the devil a foothold, that anger resides in the lap of fools, that it leads to evil…the list goes on and on.), he does offer an alternative to our self-destructive anger:
“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
God offers us a way out. He throws us a life raft. He gives us an opening for His healing and restoration!
When we turn from the sin that occupies our hearts – the idols, the affirmation we crave that isn’t rooted in Him, the dreams we’ve planned apart from Him – we need only to have teachable hearts that humbly receive truth that has already been printed on our soul and be ready to submit to it. God Himself does the heavy lifting! His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Not only do we have the Word, full of grace of truth, but we have Jesus, the Word in the flesh, dwelling with us. We don’t have to self-preserve! We don’t have to defend ourselves! He did everything that needed to be done on the cross. Just receive.
Father, may we people who rest in the finished work of the cross and allow the implanted Word to grow and flourish within us. May we drop our idols and our need for affirmation from people around us and instead look to You to define us. May we seek to self-surrender instead of self-preserve. May we be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, as our hearts continue to be transformed by Your grace. And in our graciousness and patience, may we be salt and light in our city and world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
"Course He isn't safe. But He's good."
/From the moment Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden, one question has remained for humans throughout the centuries: is God actually good?
For Adam and Eve, they chose to believe that the one tree forbidden to them – even though they had the rest of the world to enjoy – was evidence that God was withholding something good from them. Though God had warned them of the dire consequences that would come from eating from that tree (“you must not touch it, or you will die”), they ate anyway. Without pause. And their decision brought spiritual death – pain, brokenness, misery, and separation from God – for all of humanity.
Later, James echoes this same cautionary warning – that “sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” He pleads with us! “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”
But let’s not miss his next message. This is where the hope is, friends. This is where we see the answer to the question asked above.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
James 1:17-18
Let’s take this in for a moment.
After the fall, God didn’t leave Adam and Eve and the rest of humanity in our pain and devastation. He could have, but He didn’t! He began to draw people back to Himself. He began the great story of rescue and redemption that you and I continue to be a part of today. In His goodness and in His grace, He has continued to give us good and perfect gifts from above – namely, Jesus.
Just as was His desire with Adam and Eve, God – who never changes and is always faithful – wants to give you and me the most precious, miraculous, joy-bringing, life-giving gift there is: Himself. He creates beauty from ashes, and causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him. We just have to follow Him. We have to choose life.
May we be men and women who so grasp the depth, the height, and the width of God’s goodness and love for us that we choose life over death.
And remember, in the glorious words of Mr. Beaver in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: “Safe? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”